The District Railway bought ten of these locomotives from the Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Company of Birmingham to haul London & North Western Railway and later London, Tilbury & Southend Railway services along the electrified section of its outer circle route between Earl's Court and Mansion House [1] and later onto Barking (the District Railway no longer wanted steam locomotives operating through these tunnels). The locomotives operated in pairs and only had a cab at one end. They were based on the railway's then-current fleet ofB Stock EMUs and had wooden bodies and clerestory roofs [2].
Information
Number built:
10
Built:
1905
Builder:
Metropolitan Carriage and Wagon Company
Engine:
4 British Thomson-Houston GE69 traction motors
(600v DC fourth rail)
Power:
800 hp (597 kW)
Wheel arrangement:
Bo-Bo
The locomotives were equipped with British Thomson-Houston traction equipment though in 1922 the traction motors were replaced by GE260 from F Stock. Three locomotives were scrapped in 1911 though the rest remained in service until 1939 when the LTSR service was withdrawn.
Model of locomotive at London Transport Museum
Public domain image [3]
Public domain image [3]
[1] "Electric Locos for London & North Western Cars in London", Street Railway Journal (1906) Vol XXVII No. 1, p. 46 [2] R.L. Vickers, DC Electric Trains & Locomotives in the British Isles (David & Charles, 1986) p. 29 [3] Street Railway Journal p. 46
The Class 20 is the most successful Type 1 diesel bought by BR (by some margin) and indeed the only one still in service - sixty years after it was first introduced! After early trials with prototype diesels BR ordered a number of "pilot scheme" diesels in the mid-1950s as part of its Modernisation Plan to eliminate steam. Twenty of these diesels were from what would become the Class 20 and in fact the first one built (D8000) was the very first diesel delivered to BR under this pilot scheme [1].
The Class 20 has a cab only at one end, though typically it works in pairs with the cabs outer most to make one "virtual" 2, 000hp locomotive. When it is operated bonnet first drivers have had problems with seeing the line ahead (as they did with large steam locomotives). Because of this BR decided to standardise on the Class 17,which had a central cab and much better visibility,instead for its Type 1 however various problems with the Class 17 forced BR to do an about face in the late 1960s and restart Class 20 production. [2]
Information
Number built:
228
Built:
1957-68
Builder:
English Electric
Engine:
English Electric 8SVT Mk2 diesel
Power:
1, 000 hp (746 kW)
Wheel arrangement:
Bo-Bo
The Class 20 became one of BR's most reliable locomotives popular with BR and enthusiasts who have given them the name "Choppers". They were usually found on freights with the occasional passenger service in the Summer (they have no train heating provision) [3]. There have been a number of sub-classes, most Class 20s have remained as standard (20/0) but a small number were modified as 20/3 for aggregate workings in the 1980s. 20/3 was later re-used for locomotives modernised and refurbished post-privatisation. A few locos have also been modified for remote control trials as 20/9.
The fleet was run down in the 1980s with most withdrawn by the time of privatisation but since then the Class 20 has seen a bit of a renaissance and has found a niche on spot hire trains and a number remain in service to this day [4]. A large number has also been preserved including the very first one, and pilot scheme loco, built which is with the NRM.
20 189 at Kidderminster SVR
20 132 in original Railfreight livery at Derby
First of the Class 20s D8000 at the NRM York
GB Railfreight 20 905 at Derby
Cab of D8059
20 189 at Kidderminster SVR
[1] Brian Haresnape, Early Prototype & Pilot-Scheme Diesel-Electrics (Ian Allan, 1981) p. 35 [2] Brian Haresnape, Production Diesel-Electrics Types 1-3 (Ian Allan, 1983) p. 26 [3] J.A.M. Vaughan, Profile of the Class 20s (OPC, 1984) p. 3 [4] Colin J Marsden, Traction Recognition (2nd Edition) (Ian Allan, 2011) p. 14
Leeds City Tramways Radial Class was a large class of street trams built in three batches between 1925 and 1931 by Brush Traction, English Electric and by the tramway company itself at it's Kirkstall Road works.
Information
Number built:
200
Built:
1925-31
Builder:
Brush Traction, English Electric, Leeds City Tramways
Engine:
2 Dick Kerr 30B1 traction motors (550v DC OHLE)
Power:
100 hp (75 kW)
The trams were the first completely enclosed trams in the Leeds fleet and also had a four wheel radial E.M.B. trucks with a centre pivot between each pair of wheels [1], the Leeds examples being the only authority to use such a truck. Two trams (one of which was 399 pictured below) were fitted with Peckham P22 trucks for comparison purposes. The pivot trucks were not deemed a success (there were problems with brakes due to the geometry of the radial motion) and most trams were retrofitted with Peckham P35s after the Second World War, those not modified had the centre pivot locked.
The trams were withdrawn in the first half of the 1950s. Number 399 was withdrawn in 1951 but was used for some time afterwards as a depot shunter. It was preserved in 1959 and is now at Crich Tramway Museum.
Leeds 399 in the depot shed at Crich
Front of 399
[1] R.W. Rush, British Electric Tramcar Design 1885-1950 (Oxford Publishing, 1976) p. 105
The Class 04 was a development of the 0-4-0 shunter the Drewry Car Company built for the LMS before the war (see LMS 7050), the first example being a demonstrator built for the LNER just before nationalisation in 1947 [1]. Series production began in BR days a few years later, being the first attempt to build a standard small shunter [2]. The Class 04 performed a role similar to the Class 03 (which is almost exactly the same mechanically and similar looking) working in small yards and where a lighter locomotive was required. Drewry was more a design and sales company rather than an actual manufacturer (for most of the company's life) and so sub-contracted out the building of the locomotives to the Vulcan Foundry and Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns [3].
Information
Number built:
142
Built:
1948, 1952-62
Builder:
Drewry Car Company
Engine:
Gardner 8L3 diesel
Power:
204 hp (152 kW)
Wheel arrangement:
0-6-0
As the amount of shunting needed fell in the 1960s BR decided to standardise on the Class 03 for the small shunter role and the Class 04s began to be withdrawn from the late 1960s onwards along with dozens of other small shunter types. All were gone by 1972 though a number were sold for re-use by industrial railways both at home and abroad. Eighteen have been preserved.
D2284 cab end
D2337 at Rowsley South
D2284 at Rowsley South
D2229 at Rowsley South (as are the two other shunters below)
D2337, also preserved at the Heritage Shunters Trust
D2272
[1] Brian Haresnape, Diesel Shunters (Ian Allan, 1984) p. 38 [2] Colin J.Marsden, Diesel & Electric Locomotive Recognition Guide (Ian Allan, 2011) p. 78 [3] Ray King, British Industrial Diesel Locomotives (Traction & Rolling Stock Advertiser, 2006) p. 17
